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BMW Olympic Bobsled

It takes much more than just a great car company to be sucessful in Formula 1. Chassis and Engine design need to be top notch. Because you need very specialized knowledge to do either, many renowned manufacturers farm the engine development and build out to specialists. Ilmore Engineering used to be one of these. As far as Renault is concerned, think of the link Renault-Nissan-Infinty. Then there was McLaren-Mercedes, Sauber-Mercedes. BMW did only the engines, I don't even remember what chassis they had. Porsche had a Formula 1 car in the 60s once. wasn't very sucessful either. And on top of this, there is always Bernie Ecclestone telling you what you can and what you cannot do.


I understand & agree. It just seems to me that those three BMW,Honda , Toyota should be able to hire the best of the best in engineering,[chassis,suspension,hydraulics etc] to make it happen ?

BMW did well in the early 80's in the regard to engines. Their Turbo-4, 1.5 liter put out something like 1300HP!
 
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AKA - Elston Gunnn, Blind Boy Grunt, Bob Landy, Robert Milkwood Thomas, Tedham Porterhouse, Lucky/Boo Wilbury, Jack Frost, Sergei Petrov (per Wikipedia). He is an odd duck.

I liked most of his songs, but he seems self-absorbed. In my opinion, somewhat ironic for his music genre.
 
He went through a really hard time, when he tried to make the transition from acustic to electric guitar and his fans boo-ed (sp?) and deserted him for this.
He was never the same afterwards. That's the Bob Dylan you probably know.
 
He went through a really hard time, when he tried to make the transition from acustic to electric guitar and his fans boo-ed (sp?) and deserted him for this.
He was never the same afterwards. That's the Bob Dylan you probably know.

Watching the films of the Newport Folk Festival, he did take the punk approach to it all. But, considering the potential income differences between following the traditional (acoustic) path or moving to the rock style, he made a rational choice.

He is an artist that has created beautiful work, but appears to have no interest in the context of the art with his current world. It is just exceedingly well done art. To me, there is a lack of soul.
 
I understand & agree. It just seems to me that those three BMW,Honda , Toyota should be able to hire the best of the best in engineering,[chassis,suspension,hydraulics etc] to make it happen ?

BMW did well in the early 80's in the regard to engines. Their Turbo-4, 1.5 liter put out something like 1300HP!

Honda did...but they put them to work on a higher priority...revision of the poorer selling 2012 Civic!!! :)
 
BMW did the aerodynamics on the USA bobsleds, so who designs the German and Austrian bobsleds?

I'm not a bobsledder or even a big fan (except every four years) but it seems there isn't much room for creativity and innovation in sled design. Since the sled has no internal power, once the pushers climb on board gravity does all the work. Aerodynamics is (are?) obviously very important at the speeds these things go but at this stage of development any gains will be very small. Still, with times measured to the thousandth of a second, even an exposed bolt head could make a difference.

The human element (driver, et al) is far more important than the mechanics.

pete
 
BMW did the aerodynamics on the USA bobsleds, so who designs the German and Austrian bobsleds?

I'm not a bobsledder or even a big fan (except every four years) but it seems there isn't much room for creativity and innovation in sled design. Since the sled has no internal power, once the pushers climb on board gravity does all the work. Aerodynamics is (are?) obviously very important at the speeds these things go but at this stage of development any gains will be very small. Still, with times measured to the thousandth of a second, even an exposed bolt head could make a difference.

The human element (driver, et al) is far more important than the mechanics.

pete

The advertising value to BMW makes the (I assume) gratis effort worth it. Could NASA or Boeing have done a better job.........likely, but for what point/value? Their customers aren't making decisions based on what occurred at the Olympics. Could GM or Ford done a good job? Would the typical GM or Ford customer care if their 1/2-ton PU is more aerodynamic?

But, for everything you say.......aerodynamics and sled suspension would be elements that the team could control. Accordingly, ignoring those potential gains would be foolish.
 
Sure, the human element is maybe the most important parameter. Still, every other little thing counts. Remember some were caught heating up the blades to gain an advantage. how much of an effect could that have had.:scratch
 
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